Author: frank
This is my story as I move through my life as a husband, father, grandfather, brother, son, uncle, educator, photographer and so on. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If at First You Don’t Succeed…
As you may or may not know, today is my birthday. In our family, the birthday person chooses the place to eat on their birthday, and the type of dessert. Then after dinner and dessert, we do presents. Since I enjoy baking so much, I’ve made my own cake the past couple of years. This… Continue reading If at First You Don’t Succeed…
Vacation Week
It has been a while since my last vacation of more than a day or two. Covid put a damper on last year, and again this year. We did get a weekend trip over to New York City, when cases were way down, but the time of decreasing Covid numbers has passed. I am getting… Continue reading Vacation Week
Or What?!
Remember when you were young. An adult told you what to do. You looked at them and said, “or what?” It was an immature challenge to see if the adult was serious. In those old days the adult most likely would have given you a swat across the back side, or even a smack across… Continue reading Or What?!
Chicken Stock
Hurray! For the second time, I didn’t blow the kitchen up. There is still a little bit of fear in using the pressure canner. When the directions say do this and don’t do that so as not to explode, it instills a bit of hesitancy to use the canner. I’ve been wanting to make my… Continue reading Chicken Stock
Loss of Power
My heart goes out to all the people who have been hard hit by Hurricane Ida. So many things are broken, destroyed, not working. One of these things is the power grid, with so many power lines blown down or damaged. The powers that be are saying some homes may be without power for up… Continue reading Loss of Power
American Women
Last week, I wrote about my worry of the Afghan women. The Taliban had retaken Afghanistan, and have stated their plan of returning to a more restrictive government, especially for women. American women have been on my mind this week. I’ve been thinking about my daughter, my mom, my sisters, my nieces, and the many… Continue reading American Women
Blackened Chicken
On Monday I made blackened chicken for the first time. It was a recipe in the current issue of Cooks Illustrated. I had purchased some chicken breasts at the local farmer’s market. There is a meat vendor who I have to buy at least one thing from each Tuesday. There is a lot of heat… Continue reading Blackened Chicken
Sprinkler Head
At our old house, we had a sprinkler system installed to water the trees and the little bit of grass we had. We did live in the high desert where the precipitation was just about zero most of the year. All of us, even people who hated rain, were glad to see the monsoon season… Continue reading Sprinkler Head
Afghanistan
It only took about a week for the country to fall. All the training the U.S. military provided, and it all crumbled in a matter of days. So many can’t believe it happened so quickly. But, when a country is propping up another, without a change in culture and thinking, once the prop is gone,… Continue reading Afghanistan
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 